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Subject:re:need help with pompous engineer From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Feb 2002 13:02:23 -0800 (PST)
John Posada wrote:
> What's the matter with having him loose alittle face,
> yet do it with humor.
Sarah Thomas wrote:
> Tell him you will leave the engineering up to him if
> he leaves the tech writing up to you! There is a
> reason they hire tech writers and engineers. You do
> deserve more respect professionally and personally
> than that!
And *I* thought he specifically wanted a way to avoid
the engineer losing face, too. I used to think it was
a matter of respect, but I've come to realize that
most people who aren't professional writers don't
know what they don't know. You give them something to
review from a technical aspect, but they think you
want spelling, grammar, and punctuation checked, too.
If I want to save them some face--for example, so that
I can work comfortably with them into the future--I
thank them for their suggestions and then do what I
believe to be right. Yes, it often is a matter of
style. In the absence of a company mandated style
guide, I deem myself the arbiter of style. After all,
I have the education and training for it.
It serves no purpose to argue with ignorance, even less
to argue with stupidity. As I said originally, I doubt
the engineer will even reread (or is it re-read?) the
document. Why waste any heartbeats on an argument you
don't need to have?
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